Arizona Cardinals’ Patrick Peterson comes up big in win over St. Louis Rams
Nov 10, 2014, 2:45 AM | Updated: 2:46 am
GLENDALE, Ariz. — He’s back!
Arizona Cardinals cornerback Patrick Peterson, who has been the subject of league-wide criticism and the target of many an opposing quarterback in 2014, is back to his old, dominant self as he proved in Arizona’s 31-14 win over the St. Louis Rams Sunday.
Peterson was flagged for an illegal contact penalty in the fourth quarter with the Cardinals leading 17-14. On the very next play, Peterson picked off St. Louis quarterback Austin Davis — his first interception of the season.
The Cardinals would go three-and-out on their ensuing possession, but when the Rams got the ball back, Peterson stepped up again.
The fourth-year corner tipped a ball intended for Kenny Britt, corralled it and took it to the house on a 30-yard interception return that put the Cardinals up by 10 points with just over five minutes to play.
“I was hoping the quarterback was going to lead him versus putting it top and now I’ve got to work around his body,” Peterson said. “But he threw it up just a little bit too high out of his reach and I tipped it. I wasn’t able to get two hands on it, so I tried to tip it to myself and I tipped it away from him just a little bit, but I kept my eyes on it.
“Going to get the ball, I was telling myself, because I missed one in Dallas, I should have caught that one, I was like ‘any ball that is tipped, I’m not letting it go again,’ because I don’t know when my first interception is going to come.”
The pick was the 13th of Peterson’s career, but the first he’s taken back for a touchdown.
“Gotta hold it up,” he said with a smile and a nod to another famous no. 21, Deion Sanders.
Peterson had a lackluster first half of the season, but played much better last week in the Cardinals’ win over the Cowboys. He cites the fact that he’s healthy again after a couple of injuries as the key for his resurgence.
“(The Dallas game) was the first time in a long time I felt totally healthy and I got tired of hearing all the criticism with people not really knowing the situation,” he said. “I just wanted to put that criticism behind me and just wanted to go out there and play tough football, play ‘Patrick Peterson football,’ which you guys are accustomed to.”
Peterson injured his ankle in the Cardinals’ lone loss of the season in Denver on Oct. 5. Then, three weeks later, he suffered a concussion when he was hit by teammate Deone Bucannon in a win over Philadelphia. He cleared the league’s concussion protocol, and played the next week against Dallas.
“Once I got over that ankle injury, the low ankle sprain, I started feeling good,” he said. “I started feeling like I got my step back to finally laterally kick and put my hands on these receivers and start keeping them in front of me.”
Peterson was the most-penalized player in the league heading into Sunday’s game with nine flags on the year. He picked up his 10th Sunday, but he’s learning to deal with the frustration.
“I guess I have so many under my belt now, it’s just automatically on 21,” he laughed. “Like I told you guys earlier in the week, I can’t let those flags get under my skin. I want to continue playing football.
“Obviously, I was a little heated at the the moment, but once that next play came back around, I have to put that out of my mind and go out there and play football. Now that they see I’m a little hot-headed, now they want to take a shot, as they did. I have to be ready to make sure I’m focused in and looking into the formations to make sure I’m ready for the next play coming up.”
